In the battle against crawling insects, one of the most popular and effective weapons is the use of bait which is taken by the insects back to the insects' home where more complete exposure or exposure to key insects (i.e. a queen) can occur. Baits are commonly spread around, near, or on the surface of the home of the insects or near or in an area where the insects are gathering food. Exposure to outside elements, however, can reduce the life and/or effectiveness of bait as it is washed away, diluted, dissolved, blown away, etc. Further, children, household pets, and livestock may also get into the bait, creating potential risks for themselves, as well as again damaging the life and/or effectiveness of the bait. Various patents have been issued in the past on devices providing some form of container device for baiting insects.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,582 to Morris discloses a container with openings in its outer surface mounted on a hollow extension or stem. The container portion has an inner wall with openings offset from those in the outer wall and an inner floor with openings offset from the opening of the hollow stem into the container. The bait is placed in the inner compartment formed by the inner floor and inner walls. Insects may enter through the openings in the container itself or theoretically from the bottom of the stem which has been inserted into the ground. There are no other openings in the stem. The cover of the container is optionally partially transparent, which, combined with the use of a contrasting color for the floor of the bait compartment, allows an easier view of the amount of bait used.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,991,547 to Deford discloses a container which is essentially a metal stake with openings. The stake may be stuck in the ground or other location or hung from an appropriate spot. The stake includes a hollow middle section, covered on top and bottom by cap portions, which acts as a container. The bait is placed within the container and may be accessed by the insects through openings in the container itself.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,872 to Patton et al. discloses a stake with corrugations which is to be inserted into the ground. A cup with an aperture is snapped over a recess in the stake to create a container for the bait or poison. Insects access the bait through openings in the container itself. Additionally, when used outside, the corrugations will accumulate poison bait as it is partially solubilized by water worldling its way into the container and carrying part of the bait out of the container into the corrugations.
All of the preceding baiting devices rely on holes in the container itself to provide insects access to the bait within the container. The prior art devices rely on a secondary wall system or on the size of the holes themselves to prevent children and pets from getting to the bait. These same methods are also all that the devices rely on to prevent rain or the elements from affecting the bait stored within.